HNA, partner to buy 245 Park for $2.2B: sources

UPDATED, 5:55 p.m., March 20: Chinese conglomerate HNA Group and an unidentified partner are in contract to acquire 245 Park Avenue for $2.21 billion, The Real Deal has learned. The deal, were it to close at that price, would be one of the priciest-ever purchases of a Manhattan skyscraper, and perhaps the most emphatic example of Chinese institutional money making its mark on the New York skyline.

The $2.2 billion purchase price would work out a whopping $1,227 per square foot for 245 Park Avenue. Only a handful of skyscrapers in Manhattan have crossed the $2 billion threshold, including 11 Madison Avenue, 3 Bryant Park and the GM Building at 767 Fifth Avenue.

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CBRE’s Darcy Stacom and William Shanahan represented the sellers. They declined to comment.

Representatives for Brookfield and HNA could not immediately be reached. HNA is perhaps best known for its acquisition of a roughly 25 percent stake in Hilton Worldwide Holdings from Blackstone Group last year. It also partnered with Norman Sturner’s MHP Real Estate Services on the $463 million acquisition of 850 Third Avenue in March 2016, and partnered on MHP’s 1180 Sixth Avenue in 2011.

Correction: A previous version of this story identified HNA’s partner as MHP Real Estate Services.